Periscope.



W. N. HOWELL.

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APPLIOATIOI FILED JULY 6, 1907. 959,013, Patented May 24, 1910.

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,g l ici l ifa, l -i l ich lt'l'ltl Urtlt NEILL HOWELL. OF PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA. ASSIGNOR TO SIMO LAKE, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

PERISCOPE.

'/'o all whom it may concern:

Be it. known that l, VVinmau Naim1 How mi., a `citizen of' the UnitedStates, and a resident of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphiaand State of Pennsylvania. temporarily residing in London, England, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Periscopes, of whichthe following is a iin-ll, clear, and -exact description.

'lKhis invention relates to periscopes for use in submergible vessels ofall kinds, and especially submarine torpedo boats.

Briefly stated, the object of the invention is to provide an instrumentbv which a View of the entire horizon may be had by the occupant of 4thevessel a-t all times, when the ivessel is ruiming beneath the surfaceot' the water with only the upper end of the instrument. projectingabove the surface, and without requirinfr an adjustment of theinslrnment, as has'iiitherto been necessary, `in order to obtain a Viewin any given direction other than the Vone to which the instrument isset at the ltime.

With the instruments now in use, it is necessary for the steersman, orobserver, to keep his eye ldirected upon the instrument, ruhe same asIin looking through an ordinary field-glass, and to manually turn theinstrument when it is desired to view the horizon in differentdirections. 'lhis operation is exceedingly disadvantageous, since it notonli: requires the observer to concentrate his cve directly on theinstrument, but also necessitates the Imanual operation of the mstrnmentto shift it, and this last is ac- I'om-plished with difficulty, owing tothe iight-fitting bearings and stuffing-boxes in which the instrument ismounte ln order to overcome these objectionable features, I provide arapidly revolving obr4erving tube, having the usual prisms or releer orswhich are adapted to reflect to the haer-ver all 4objects at any pointon the zon, whereby the opeaator is enabled to rve an fobject lying 1nany di ion wit'l .ion vto his vessel or approa :l from' an direction.This v. sts in a recision of aim ofthe at an hostie vessel, but alsoenel', coupants besides -the steersman. in observation f llc Op@ hnsSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 6, 1907.

Patented May 24, 1910, Serial No. 382.528.

the vessel may station themselves to ohsert` in other directions, andthus it is possibi. to ascertain the approach of a vessel or ve selsfrom various directions.

VVitxh my arrangement, an image is i liect-ed into the vessel the sameas in olla instruments, it being only necessary tor th observer tochange his position in order it obtain a view in anv given direction.

The invention a so comprises certain pw culiar structural features andarl-magentan` of the operative ia-rts ot' the device, all will bedescribed tull-y and then particularh claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, illnstrai ing the invention, 1n theseveral figures which like parts are similarly designan-d Figure 1 is asectional elevation of the up per portion of a vessel showing the nnirovement in position. Fig. 2 is a vertica longitudinal section of thesame, on a larger sca e. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic View.

A designates a portion of the deck or conning tower or vturret of asubmarine ve sel, in which is securely mounted a tubular casing orsupport B, which projects through the vessel to anv desired height, andis preterably provided with a land-rinUC, to pre vent ingress of watertrough tiie openinir of the vessel through which the casing l# extends.Near the upper and 'lower rfndof the casing are arranged bea-ring-ringsl). in which is mounted an observing tube l'l. having collars or flangesE, co-acting will] the hearing-rings I) bv means ot' interi-instalantitriction balls. which permit a free rn tary movement of the tube.

F and F' are. optical prisms or reflectors secured in any suitablemanner at. opposite ends of the tube E, respectively, each prism havingits reflecting face inclined at such an angle with the axis of theobserving tub that an image ot' an external object receive( through theprism l", will be reflected down i wardly through the tube into theinterior o y the vessel through .the prism F', for the in spection ofthe observer. In practice I ma f'iiacent to the face of the prisi asystem of such lenses, t

r tieid -of vision than con l ad by the prism alone or s or system ofsuch enst ureld to the lower end t d by a belt il', c.

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fendin'g Y e vlit-.of a suitable elec- '.ric moto Iifto whic 'currentmaybe `supplied tliro h 'e-*d namo'orfstorage batf feries (not s own) o thevessel.

The u perl-end- Vof the tubular casing. B :s close aacylindrical lasshood K, which ma'. .n ewheldinplace y cementvand i collar I ,land hasits upper end 'closed by :i metallic cap-K, or an integral glass cap.lhe glass-is sufficiently heavy to withstand xternalglessureandprotectthe prism F .ind lensl v ,frornthewater when the .vessel isrunninglwith -,only.}the -pper endof the sightingd instrumentexpos 1 Ix;or erto insure against ingress of water `lio the vessel, should the hoodbecome inylured, the-lower end of the casing B is provided .with ascrew-cap L, having a packng-ring which is designed to enga e :he lowerface of the pulleyH, when t e new-cap L is turned up tight upon thecasmfr, thereby sealingthe lower end of the in e and preventin anpossible in ressof water tothe vesse. if course, w en the crew-ca istobeip lied tothe easing as esclzribe the belt is removed from the nil ey.

myselfrto elexact features shown.

In the;usefofrltheinstrument so fary def:ribed,themotor isy geared torevolve the mbe at' afvery hi ray o light; frornfany-object-within thefield of vision ,will'fstrike the eye of the observer 4,nee ineverylrevolutionof the tube, .andl

ywing tothe great numberfof vreflections imnres'sed uplonfthe. eye, theele'ct will be the :rime as t oughty weld stationary,y ndborecontinuously upon. [he object. 'bessen therefore, that yhe observeuickly ob djustinggthe mstrumentin triinieitscoi en iriusaad aset-tapant to, t

.i w. Referring to Fig. 8, X

m lower 0nd oft Y l strument in the direction indicated b be oper-.IltherefordV do not wish `to limit` .t

hrate of speed,say, for exampleflOOO M., so thata reflected etube andprisms were the direction in which the revolved. Should it be desired .idirectly ahead, the observer looks at t arrow 1. By changin his positionto either .side of the prism, an looking in the direction indicated byeither of the arrows 2, he can obtain a view in either direction uponthe horizon. Likewise, a view can be had of the entire horizon by simplywalking around the instrument. f

ItV Will be understood that field glasses may be employed to look into'the prism F', `to magnify-the object; and a separate range finder mayalso be used in connection with the periscope for vgetting the range of'distant objects. l

From the foregoing, the advantages of my improvement will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art to which my in s ventionappertains, and further statements as to its usefulness are thought tobe unnecessar i l. The combination with a submer ible vessel, of arotatable observing tube projecting from the vessel and containingreflecting means, and means for rapidly rotating said tube.

2. The combination with a submergible vessel, of a rotatable observingtube rojecting ,from the vessel, prisms locate at the up er and lowerends of the tube, .and means or rapidly rotating the tube continuouslywhilein use.

3. Thefeombination with a submergible vessel, of a rotatable observingtube rojeeting from the vessel, prisms locate at the up er and lowerends of the tube, a lens locate adjacent to the prism at the upper i endof thevt'ube, and means for rapidly ro` tating the tube. f

.24. The combination with a submerg ible vessel, of a rotatable tubeprojecting irom vthe vessel vprisms arranged at the upper and lower en sof the tube, and means operatively-connected to the tube for rapidly ro`tatingit. A5. he combination vwith a submergible :vessel oa support, arotatable' observing tube'. journaled in l the support land Acontaini.lng-'reflecting means, and -meansfor rapidly hei-tube continuouslywhile.' in fuse.

O tting' i Y. mblnation with a submergi'ble ionewith av submergible BESTAVAILABLE coe inner end of the support, for the purpose pecified.

8. The combination with a submergible vessel, of a support projectingoutwardly therefrom, an observing tube Journaled in the support, a prismcarried at each end of rlul tu e, a transparent hood arranged at theouter end of the sup ort, means for rapidly rotating the tube andadapted to be disconnected therefrom, and means for temporarily elosinwater-tight the lower end of the support w ien the rotating means isdisconnected.

9. The combination with a submergible vessel, of a tubular supportprojecting outwardly therefrom, a trans arent hood ar ranged over theouter end o the support, an observing tube journaled to the support andhaving prisms arranged at opposite ends lhereof, a pulley carried by thetube adja rwut to its lower end, a motor having its 'hire shaft providedwith a pulley, and a Ialt connecting the pulleys.

10. A periscope, comprising a support, an uhservin tube journaledtherein and provided wlth prisms at opposite ends thereof,

means for rapidly rotating the tube and adapted to be dlsconnectedtherefrom, a transparent. hood arranged over the upper end of thesupport, and means for closurey the lower end of the support when theopA erating means is disconnected.

1l. A periscope, comprising a support, an observing tube journaledtherein and provided with reflecting means, a pulley secured to the tubeadjacent to its inner end, mean.` for operating upon the pulley forrapidl)v rotating the tube and adapted to be disconnected therefrom, ahood held upon the end of the support, and a screw-ca adapted to befitted upon the opposite en of the support when the operating means isdiseonnected, and packing interposed between thil Screw-cap and ulleyfor closing the said support water-tight.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto .sm my hand this 25 day of June A.D. 1907.

WILLIAM N EILL HOW E l il i.

Witnesses:

H. D. JAMESON, F. L. RAND.

